“La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song)!”

It's time to Break It Down!

I had no idea what I would write about in the second week of the second decade of the 21st Century. I thought, however, it would be like most other weeks and I would have a plethora of topics from which to choose. Alas, I could not have been more erroneous in my assessment. While technically, any number of story lines could have risen to the top for today’s post, the stark reality is, yesterday’s earthquake in Haiti muted the would be contenders. “La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song),” is the national anthem of Haiti. The song honors Jean-Jacques Dessalines; written by Justin Lhérisson; composed by Nicolas Geffrard, and adopted in 1904.

Often the first name thought of in connection with the Haitian revolution is Toussaint Louverture. And indeed, L’ouverture was one of the Revolution’s first leaders. Between 1797 and 1802, he led enslaved Africans to victory over Europeans, abolished slavery, and reestablished commercial contacts with the United States. In 1802, Toussaint was captured by Napoleon Bonaparte’s men and deported to France, where he died in prison.

After Toussaint Louverture's deportation, his Chief Lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who had risen to the rank of brigadier general, assumed command of the Revolution. He defeated the French troops sent by Napoleon in 1803, and in 1804 declared Haiti an independent nation. He went on to become Haiti’s first ruler; Dessalines was assassinated in 1806.

Haiti maintains unique places, in both history and in ethnolinguistics:

• First independent nation in Latin America
• First post-
colonial independent Black-led nation in the world
• The only nation to gain independence via a successful slave
rebellion
• The only predominantly Francophone
independent nation in the Americas
• One of only two nations in the Americas to designate French an
official language

While all that is interesting, it is yesterday’s earthquake that makes Haiti a pressing news story today. The quake measured 7.0 on the Richter magnitude scale, and is reported to have as many as 10 aftershocks, measuring as much a 5.0 on the Scale, according to the Associated Press, the most powerful to hit Haiti in more than 200 years. Centered about 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince, the seismic response was so pronounced it could be felt in eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and among the poorest in the world. Eighty percent of the Country’s nine million people live in poverty, according to the CIA Factbook. This latest in a long line of disasters has caused immense physical damage, and massive human suffering; many deaths are expected to follow. The quake adds to a list of disasters that since just 1994 includes:

• Hurricane Gordon killed more than 1,000 people in 1994
• Hurricane Georges killed more than 400 and destroyed the majority of the
country's crops in 1998
• Hurricane Jeanne killed more than 3,000 people as it passed north of
Haiti, with most of the deaths in the northwestern city of Gonaives, in 2004

• Gonaives was hit heavily again when four tropical storms passed through
in 2008
• In addition, a Haitian school collapsed, killing more than 90 people and
injuring 150, also in 2008

Crushing poverty, failing infrastructure, rampant deforestation, and a history of political instability conspire to make rebounding from this latest natural disaster a most challenging undertaking. Assistance will be required from aid agencies around the world. Still, it will be a slow process.

We have become are accustomed to watching corners of the world unravel in front of us. So much so until if we are not careful, we may become almost anesthetized to the next tsunami, war, tornado, terrorist attack, typhoon, homicide, flood, hurricane, or…the next earthquake. Hold up; take a step back, and a deep breath. Before turning on (your iPod), and tuning out (some disaster or tragedy), remember…the human in humanity. That’s you (and me)!

To take one small step in that direction, I am elevating the Haitian National Anthem to the top of today’s page; “La Dessalinienne (The Dessalines Song)!” May it serve as a symbol of my personal empathy with the people of Haiti during this trying time…a virtual written “moment of silence.”. If you are interested in providing help immediately, click on: www.redcross.org/en/. If the link does not work, please cut and paste.

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking or cutting and pasting the link: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com . A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult (cut and paste) the links below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Dessalinienne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Dessalines

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Lh%C3%A9risson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Geffrard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toussaint_L%27Ouverture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Francis_Richter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richter_magnitude_scale

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/12/haiti.earthquake/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/haiti.quake/

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/major-earthquake-hits-haiti-tsunami-watch-issued/story?id=9544984

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/01/12/eveningnews/main6089110.shtml?tag=stack

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34829978/ns/world_news-americas/

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100113/ts_nm/us_quake_haiti

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/01/12/12441801.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/world/americas/13haiti.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/01/12/Clinton-Haiti-quake-catastrophic/UPI-32161263336383/

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60B5IZ20100113